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Centre tilting towards President’s rule in Andhra Pradesh

That the Centre is still toying with the idea of President’s rule was made clear on Saturday when the law department reportedly advised that central rule can be imposed only after Parliament is prorogued.

TNN | Updated: Feb 23, 2014, 07:03 IST

The delay in the decision by the Centre has the state Congress leaders intensifying their lobbying for install... Read More

HYDERABAD: The fate of Andhra Pradesh continued to hang in balance with the UPA government inching towards imposing President's rule in the state even as Congress leaders stepped up their lobbying for an elected government till the elections.
That the Centre is still toying with the idea of President's rule was made clear on Saturday when the law department reportedly advised that central rule can be imposed only after Parliament is prorogued. As a result, the decision on AP has been deferred and the Union Cabinet is now slated to meet at 11am on Monday to take the call. By that time, it is presumed that Parliament would be prorogued, thus clearing the way for President's rule in the state.

But the delay in the decision by the Centre has the state Congress leaders intensifying their lobbying for installing an elected government in place of the one led by Kiran Kumar Reddy. On Saturday, two key chief ministerial aspirants, Uttam Kumar Reddy from Telangana and Kanna Lakshminarayana from Seemandhra, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and pleaded for an elected government instead of President's rule.

According to sources, apart from an elected government, Kanna wanted the term of the assembly to be extended by another six months. However, Sonia reportedly ruled out the possibility of extension and said that polls to the assembly will be held simultaneously with the general elections. But the two aspirants were of the view that the Congress chief has not rejected their plea for going for an elected government altogether.

In the meantime, Telangana Congress leaders are said to have informed the Congress high command that they are not averse to a party leader from Seemandhra region being made the chief minister until the elections scheduled to be held in three months time from now. "We have got Telangana, therefore, we have no objection to someone from the Seemandhra region being made the CM for the next three months," said a Telangana Congress leader who was among the group that called on Sonia on Friday.

"The Congress high command is toying with various options. We are hopeful that President's rule will not be imposed. However, it would be a couple of days before we get clarity on the issue," senior Telangana minister K Jana Reddy told STOI on Saturday. If the Centre does consider going for an elected government and install a chief minister from the Seemandhra region, Kanna, Chiranjeevi and PCC chief Botsa Satayanarayana are among the key contenders.

Meanwhile, a race has begun for the posts of PCC chiefs for the two states. Among the aspirants for the Seemandhra PCC chief post are Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi and state ministers Dokka Manikya Varaprasad and Kondru Murali. For the Telangana PCC chief post, Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jana Reddy, J Geeta Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar and Ponnala Lakshmaiah are in the fray.

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